Dragon's Dogma 2 launches to "Mostly Negative" review bombing after microtransactions reveal, and man, what a bummer

What you need to know

  • As Dragon’s Dogma 2 launched on PC Thursday evening, a previously hidden suite of microtransactions became available for purchase.
  • Things you can buy for the single player ARPG include fast travel points, Rift Crystals for hiring Pawns and buying special items, appearance change and revival consumables, a special camping kit that weighs less than normal ones, and a few others.
  • In response to the microtransactions, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is being review bombed, with the game currently sitting at “Mostly Negative” on Steam.
SufniDroid,

Imagine putting microtransactions, paid character edit vouchers, Denuvo, and anti-cheat into a $70 single player only game. They know what’s happening, they’re just trying to shift blame onto the community.

Coelacanth,
@Coelacanth@feddit.nu avatar

…putting microtransactions, paid character edit vouchers, Denuvo, and anti-cheat into a $70 single player only game

This reads like satire wtf

lath,

Think of it as their very shitty solution to mods and cheats that so many dumbasses pay for. “Hey, why let those cheat makers profit off of our games? Let’s make the cheats ourselves! But you know, for better profit, let’s chop off parts of the game and call them cheats instead.”

million,
@million@lemmy.world avatar

Wait, anti-cheat? Wtf?

SufniDroid,

It has Denuvo Anti-tamper and Denuvo anti-cheat. If they didn’t include the latter, you could just bypass the microtransactions entirely.

Chailles,
@Chailles@lemmy.world avatar

There’s a mod right now that adds the item you need to change appearances to a vendor for like 10 gold, so I’m not really sure what cheats it’s preventing exactly.

Dudewitbow,

part of the reason im always pro mod option, there will be a fan who offers an optional “fix” for a game.

HuddaBudda,
HuddaBudda avatar

  • Kernel level anti-cheat

  • Micro-transactions

  • Paid character edit vouchers

Ouch, I'd be pissed too if my $70 was still not enough to buy all the character models, let alone that I would have to pay to re-customize my character. They 100% deserve this negative criticism.

the_post_of_tom_joad,

Man the update sure made the author look chastened huh? I wonder if they were pressured at all?

Anyway, new topic:

Following its launch, Dragon’s Dogma 2’s rating on Steam has slowly but steadily improved. At the time of writing this update, it has risen to “Mixed,” with 42% of all reviews giving it a positive score

I would be interested in whether the steam rating is being “review (what do you call the opposite of bombed? Review bumped?) bombed” in a ⏫ direction. Anyone read those positive reviews? How do they seem?

pyrflie,

Dragon’s Dogma 2 shits the bed after being one of the most anticipated games of the year.

Coulda been great sought profit instead, receives neither.

I was suspicious when it was multiplayer only. This usually means the game will be shit.

Dumbkid,
@Dumbkid@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Yeah I get it, I would never pay for microtransactions. I’m enjoying the game so far. I used mods to get all 999 of the items they sell so I don’t have to be bothered. It runs well enough on my system so imma keep enjoying it. I’ll leave a negative review for yall

the_post_of_tom_joad,

I’m glad you can still mod it.i thought it being always online precluded that

moon,

Seems like it’s just being accurately reviewed. How else are companies supposed to learn this is not okay?

kjtms,

The disappointment matches the excitement I felt when it got announced

Moreless,

Nothing

MaliciousKebab,

Publishers at the slightest inconvenience: We are getting review bombed.

FluffyPotato,

I’m going to be angry about microtransaction once the game actually runs. A 5800X3D and 7900XT should not be getting 20 - 40 FPS with medium settings at 1440p.

Evrala,

I got it refunded. I’ll play it in a couple years after all of the patches and when I have a new gpu

Gabu,

The very fact it’s called a “review bomb” is an attempt at controlling the narrative. Fuck game “journalism”.

DoucheBagMcSwag,

Seeing this fuckery from Capcom has given me sight closure and a bit happy that MegaMan is dead

Gabu,

happy that MegaMan is dead

Oh, but it isn’t! They keep releasing collections to test the waters. Also, there’s a Megaman gacha game! A fucking gacha!

For my part, I’ll never forgive them for Megaman X 6 and beyond. The story was clearly written to end with Megaman X 5, then transition into the Zero series of games, but Capcom was too greedy to leave it alone.

Danitos,

For my part, I’ll never forgive them for Megaman X 6 and beyond. The story was clearly written to end with Megaman X 5, then transition into the Zero series of games, but Capcom was too greedy to leave it alone.

Oh man, I got so many Vietnam flashbacks with Gears of War 4 and beyond. Microsoft really massacred my favorite video game saga :c

RealFknNito,
@RealFknNito@lemmy.world avatar

$70 price point for entry, microtransactions for stupid shit, and launches with severe technical issues.

I’m so sick of your shit Capcom.

Son_of_dad, (edited )

When a game releases with multiple purchases along side it, it just means you chopped up my full price game and are charging me extra for what I should have already gotten

WWE 2k24 in infuriating like this. If you want the full game on release, it’s actually like $150.

Gabu,

Exception to this is actual extras, like the game’s soundtrack or access to concept art.

Jakeroxs,

Supposedly a lot if not all of these micro transactions are simply faster unlocks to the content/feature, still though not a good look.

Xanis, (edited )

This is what I’ve pieced together as well. Everything can be fairly easily found and used (or hoarded) in game. However, this in no way excuses the other issues.

That said, I don’t blame the devs. Someone light the C-Suite bonfire.

intensely_human,

If the devs know what they’re working on, they’re choosing to participate in it.

Xanis,

Following this thread of logic the thousands of devs laid off in recent weeks must be heroes. After all, if they don’t have a job, according to you they can do no harm, and that’s a good thing.

Unless you think someone who refuses to do the work they’re assigned are likely to retain their position?

rickyrigatoni,

Peoole can’t just quit their jobs because they don’t like a few decisions by the suits. If that were feasible for everyone then the world would be a better place.

Infernal_pizza,
@Infernal_pizza@lemmy.world avatar

That just means they deliberately made the game tedious with the goal of annoying people into paying

DoucheBagMcSwag,

“we won’t have fast travel…”

FOR FREE.

samus12345,
@samus12345@lemmy.world avatar

https://i.imgflip.com/8k6zpq.jpg

Cethin, (edited )

They do have fast travel for free. It’s the same as the first game. You can get the fast travel crystals in game and the consumable to teleport to them in game. The MTX is just a different option for them. There’s also carts that let you travel in some form, I assume between cities.

I haven’t played the game yet, but I wish people would stop lying about the MTX. They’re bad enough that we don’t need to make things up like the only way to fast travel being the MTX.

Edit: Yeah, sure. Downvote my comment without actually saying how it’s wrong (because I only stated factually correct things). I don’t understand you people. You’d rather be lied to so you can hate a thing more than have the truth and dislike it for the real reasons.

a_wild_mimic_appears,

The article states that in a complete playthrough, he found exactly 2 fast travel crystals; in the second, he got one. those are definitely artificially limited to make sure someone drops some cash. if you read the article, you wouldn’t get downvoted man.

skulbuny,
@skulbuny@sh.itjust.works avatar

You can duplicate any item in the game for regular ol gold with a special NPC.

Cethin, (edited )

I’m certain there are more than two. I’ve played the first game and they’re rare, and you actually have to find them, but I think there’s about five or so. You may not find all of them, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. The fact that the first game functions like this without the ability to purchase them screams intent, and that intent was not for it to be sold. That was something forced on them by the business side.

If you want to argue the limitation is only about selling them, you must explain the existence of the same mechanic in the first game.

Edit: It looks like both games have a hard limit of 10 at any time. Once you hit that cap there’s no need for more. With this consideration, it really doesn’t seem like a great way to try to force MTX to happen. If they really wanted to do that it would be a different item without a limit. The fact there’s a limit means once you reach 10 any extra are wasted, and it appears that they may be purchasable in game in 2, and I’m confident you can find many as well.

Since when do we trust game journalists to get things right all of a sudden? Then saying they found 2 shouldn’t be an indication of anything, other than them finding 2 and certainly missing more.

a_wild_mimic_appears,

That doesn’t change the fact that you might just have a game where you get shafted and have to pay to get meaningful fast travel going. i’m pretty sure that wasn’t the case in dd1, and that they hid the MTX in the review copys they sent out and activated their garbage when they started selling it shows that they know that it’s not acceptable and that their reviews would have suffered quite a bit.

also, delivering a single player game as always online, Denuvo Antitamper AND Anti-Cheat (so you can’t circumvent the MTX-crap) simply doesn’t fly in a post-Baldurs Gate 3 Era.

Cethin,

That doesn’t change the fact that you might just have a game where you get shafted and have to pay to get meaningful fast travel going. i’m pretty sure that wasn’t the case in dd1

No, it was so much worse in 1. There was no cart system to travel to cities. I think there was a static port crystal in the main city and that’s it. The consumable to use it was also too bad to make good use of the system. It’s so bad that enhanced edition (Dragons Dogma: Dark Arizen) , which I think is the only version available today, added an additional static port crystal and gave the players an unlimited use teleport consumable. Players were absolutely “shafted”, but it was a design decision, not a business one. The fact it still works the same to me says it’s still a design decision, but the business side wanted to sell players a way to subvert the designed intent.

and that they hid the MTX in the review copys they sent out and activated their garbage when they started selling it shows that they know that it’s not acceptable and that their reviews would have suffered quite a bit.

Yep, this is super fucked up. This is one of the huge things that should be being critiqued. People critiquing made up issues ensure people just think it’s all made up when they discover the reality of the situation.

also, delivering a single player game as always online,

I believe I’ve read you can play offline. The people talking about saves being backed up are confusing it with Steam Cloud, not something the game is doing. Steam Cloud can be enabled or disabled regardless of it you’re online in game. I’m not sure about this, because I haven’t played the game and probably won’t for a while, but I’m relaying what I’ve read.

Edit:

Denuvo Antitamper AND Anti-Cheat (so you can’t circumvent the MTX-crap) simply doesn’t fly in a post-Baldurs Gate 3 Era.

It “didn’t fly” long before BG3. It still happens anyway, because the suits don’t get it. They see it as ensuring sales, not harming sales.

randomaside,
@randomaside@lemmy.dbzer0.com avatar

Putting conveniences into a VIDEO GAME as MTX means that the inconveniences are part of the design. This is BAD design.

DrQuickbeam,

this

Ilflish,

It was the same in the first game where there were no micro transactions. 1-3 sounds correct from my memory. So in this case, it still feels like an additive.

Summzashi, (edited )

The first game was full of micro transactions until it was removed in dark arisen. It’s hilarious how everyone has forgotten this.

…fandom.com/…/List_of_Downloadable_Content#Misc

Ilflish,

Completely forgot these existed which is irronic considering the current backlash

Guntrigger,

It looks like one of those bundles also includes Ferrystones.

Draedron,

You are being downvoted for defending this shit. Fact is you can buy fast travel options with real money. I dont care if you can unlock it for free too. The fact that a single player rpg has mtx is terrible and completely destroys all immersion when you csn open a shop to pay with real money.

Cethin,

Am I defending it? I’m correcting a factually incorrect statement. It sucks it’s for sale, but the fact of the matter is it is available in the game. The first game it wasn’t for sale and worked the same way.

I don’t think it breaks immersion though. I don’t get that. Do you think about how much you paid for the game while playing it? It can feel bad, but immersion breaking? It shouldn’t be for sale though regardless.

DrQuickbeam,

I don’t understand how letting players pay money to avoid grinding for items isn’t a douchy move. It either means they think you will have less fun if you pay less (otherwise people wouldn’t be motivated to buy shortcuts) or that they are making you pay extra for an easy mode.

Cethin,

I didn’t say it wasn’t douchy. I said it’s available in the game. The first game it wasn’t an option to purchase them and it still worked the same way. It clearly isn’t a business decision first. It still sucks they’re selling it.

yamanii,
@yamanii@lemmy.world avatar

Capcom really saw the positive hype they got with this previously niche tittle and decided to go all RE4 weeks after release on it day 1. There’s not even a new game option, I feel bad for Itsuno but it’s deserved imo.

You can get all items in-game but cheats shouldn’t ever be a paid feature, I criticized Saints Row 4 back then, I’ll criticize Dragon’s Dogma 2 today.

mindbleach,

Only legislation will stop this.

This abuse is the dominant strategy. If we allow this to continue, there will be nothing else.

Nothing inside a video game should cost real money.

Blackmist,

Man, that’s some scummy behaviour right there.

It was getting really good reviews as well. All they had to do was fling the doors open and count the money.

Activision did it the other year for Crash Team Racing Remastered as well, only they at least had the good sense to wait a few weeks after release. At least here you can cancel your order and request a refund.

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